muddling though, brave and true
by particularly good finder
Summary: "Year after year, they persevere - now and for always." Kurt and Finn learn what it means to be brothers.


_sit by the firelight's glow_  
**tell us an old tale we know**

:-:

It all happened so quickly, Kurt didn't even have time to verbally abuse his attackers. One minute, he was walking (strutting) through the parking lot; the next, his bag and coat were torn from his shoulders and his small body was being hoisted through the air.

With a strangled cry, Kurt was thrown headfirst into the dumpsters, clipping his shoulder painfully along the way. He hit the icy garbage and groaned in pain.

"Happy Holidays, fag," one of his attackers shouted, and suddenly Kurt was slapped by a wall of ice-cold water.

The jocks laughed hysterically, multiple (now-empty) buckets in their hands. The small boy curled in on himself, shivering uncontrollably. Snow started falling, and the jocks left for class. From her hiding spot behind a car, Sunshine Corazon ran towards the choir room, arms waving wildly.

It wasn't long until she returned, dragging Finn behind her. He had to jog to keep up and could barely understand the girl as she babbled hysterically. When he saw Kurt in his shivering, blue-lipped state, however, Finn's captain instincts kicked in.

"Sunny, go to Kurt's car and get my gym bag out of the back, okay?" He tossed her the keys (stolen earlier in hopes of sneaking off campus during lunch) and she caught them clumsily. With one last glance at Kurt, Sunshine ran off, pigtails bouncing.

Moving carefully, Finn scooped Kurt out of the dumpster. The small boy winced as his hurt shoulder was accidentally jostled, but leaned into the touch regardless.

"I got it! I got it!" Sunshine came running back, bag slinging wildly.

"Thanks, Sunny. Go tell Mr. Schue what happened. Better yet – go tell Coach Sylvester. After attacking her precious lead singer, those jerks won't walk straight for weeks."

Sunny nodded. "Will he be okay?" She asked, biting her lip anxiously.

"Yeah." Kurt shivered again, as if to contradict Finn's last statement. "I better get him inside, though."

"Okay. Text me later!" She shouted, running towards the building. Finn grabbed Kurt's bag (his coat was nowhere in sight) and jogged to the empty locker room. Once inside, Finn sat Kurt down on a bench and proceeded to pull his clothes off.

"Finn-?" Kurt tried to ask, but fell silent as he understood.

Finn winced as he saw the already-forming bruise on Kurt's shoulder. "Here," he said, pulling an over-sized shirt out of his gym bag. "It's clean, I promise."

Kurt pulled it on happily, then the track pants Finn held out, then the tattered old hoodie that had been sitting at the bottom of the bag since last March.

"Sorry, it smells a little…" Finn added sheepishly, but Kurt was too cold to care.

The taller boy grabbed a towel from the nearby bench and wiped off Kurt's face and hair. The slender boy shivered again, his body convulsing involuntarily. Finn frowned.

"Let's get you home," he said, hoisting his stepbrother's bag onto his back.

"What? No, I have class-"

"Not today," Finn said, pulling Kurt to his feet. "Final's are over. All we do is watch stupid movies. It won't kill you to skip."

Kurt shivered again, then slowly agreed. "Fine."

:-:

_stories we tell will cast their spell_  
**now and for always**

:-:

They pulled up to the house fifteen minutes later, and Finn moved as fast as he could to usher Kurt into the house. He dropped their bags in the entryway, pushing his almost-stepbrother into the living room.

"Right…here." Finn gently shoved Kurt into the big armchair in front of the fireplace, then started to work on building a fire.

"Um…thanks, Finn." Finn looked up to see a still-blue-lipped Kurt smiling slightly. The taller boy nodded, watching as the small flame from his lighter spread across the dry wood.

"How's your shoulder?"

Kurt winced. "It hurts like hell. But it's the cold that's getting to me."

Finn frowned, standing up. Wordlessly, he crossed the living room, grabbing an afghan from the arm of the couch. He draped it across Kurt, grinning.

"There. Nice and warm. I'll go try to figure out how to make tea…" He paused, turning back. "Do we even own tea?"

Kurt chuckled. "Pantry, second shelf, next to the cocoa mix." Finn's eyes lit up as his almost-stepbrother mentioned hot chocolate. "Go make yourself some cocoa, Finn," Kurt allowed, rolling his eyes.

The taller boy practically skipped from the room, humming happily. Kurt sighed, trying to warm himself. Even with the dry clothes and blanket and fire, he was still _freezing_. He started shaking uncontrollably again, teeth chattering. Finn came into the living room, mug in hand. "Kurt…how do you heat up – hey, are you okay?"

Kurt nodded. "I'm fine."

Finn chewed the inside of his cheek, eyes scanning the room for something to help. Suddenly, his face lit up as an idea came to him.

"Got it! So, I read somewhere-"

Kurt snorted. "You _read_?"

Finn ignored the jibe and continued chattering happily. "I read that sharing body heat…" He pulled up the afghan, pushing Kurt to the side. "…is the best way to warm someone up." He plopped down in the armchair, pulling the afghan over both of their bodies. "_Holy hell_! You _are_ freezing!"

Kurt shivered again. "You don't have to-"

His words died our as his cheek was pulled against Finn's chest. Forgetting all inhibitions and embarrassments, the small boy wrapped all of his limbs around his almost-stepbrother's body, relishing in the instant warmth.

"Sorry if this weirds you out," he muttered, closing his eyes. "But you are ridiculously warm, and I refuse to move."

Finn laughed. "It's alright. People tell me I'm very cuddly."

Kurt chuckled. "That's an understatement. You are _incredibly _cuddly." He paused, yawning.

The taller boy shifted, covering more of himself with the blanket. "Do you need me to tell you a bedtime story?"

Kurt murmured something about lack of sleep and Finn's snoring, then grumbled, "Yes, I do. Start talking."

:-:

_sing me a tale of the bravest of them all_  
**comrade and guide, at my side**

:-:

Finn laughed, thinking. "Okay…Once upon a time, there was a little boy named…"

Kurt smiled sleepily. "Chris. It's a nice name."

The taller boy chuckled. "Sure, Chris. And everybody made fun of him for being so little and sassy and, um…different. But he just kept being himself and even though they were really mean to him, he never backed down. Chris was the bravest little boy in the world."

Kurt looked up, eyes a little more awake. "You forgot to mention his brother."

Finn looked confused. "He had a brother?"

The smaller boy laughed. "He does now."

Finn grinned dopily. "Let's call him…Cory."

Kurt pouted. "I like the name Kevin better."

"His name is Cory. The end."

"_Not_ the end. There's more to this story."

Finn raised an eyebrow. "What did Cory do?"

Kurt shifted so he was facing Finn. "Cory was Chris' best friend – but not at first. Cory was friends with everyone, you see, and no one liked Chris, so Cory didn't like him either. But soon Cory realized that Chris was his _brother_ and decided family was more important than popularity. He saved Chris' life."

:-:

_the brother who wouldn't let me fall_  
**holding my life in his hand**

:-:

Finn frowned. "How did he save Chris' life?"

"He showed him kindness. Chris was dying, on the inside. Cory showed his brother some love, and that's all he needed."

Finn's brown eyes met Kurt's green. "Really?"

The smaller boy looked away in embarrassment. "Yes…Chris was just lonely."

Finn smiled softly, resting his cheek on Kurt's head. "You know, Cory may have been popular, but he was lonely, too. Nobody understood him the way his brother did."

Kurt smiled sleepily, snuggling closer to the tall boy. "Whatever happened to the two brothers?"

Finn closed his eyes, breathing deeply. "I don't know. I guess we'll have to wait and see."

:-:

_true to the end, no finer friend_  
**now and for always**

When Carole returned home many hours later, she was surprised to find a very messy kitchen. Cocoa powder covered the counter and a bag of marshmallows seemed to have exploded on the floor. A sticky, brown substance covered the inside of the microwave, and Carole wondered how on Earth Finn had convinced Kurt to let him cook something.

Moving into the living room, she found comic books and fashion magazines strewn across the rug, a charred log in the fireplace, multiple plates and mugs on the coffee table, and two sleeping boys in the armchair.

As she stepped further into the room, she heard the soft murmuring of voices coming from the not-so-asleep boys.

"You know, I bet Chris really hated it when Cory got a girlfriend."

"Is this your way of telling me that you and Rachel are yet again together?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, maybe Chris would be okay with it – _if_ he was allowed to subject Cory to a Wednesday movie night…"

"That sounds fun. Maybe then we can actually make cocoa…"

"Oh, yes…I guess neither of us will be attending culinary school, hmm?"

"Mom's gonna kill us when she sees that mess."

"Or when she finds out we skipped."

"Hey! We had a real reason to come home."

"I guess…"

"We _did_. How's your shoulder, by the way?"

"Better. Sort of."

"And the cold?"

"Much better. Thank you."

"No prob. This was fun."

"It was…why is your phone freaking out, Finn?"

"Oh, crap…I forgot to text Sunny…"

"Oh, dear. Mercedes is going to kill you."

"Sunny does tend to blow things out of proportion…"

"They're on their way to the hospital, aren't they?"

"Yup."

"Well, this will be a story to tell future generations of Hudsons and Hummels."

"How Grandpa Kurt's dearest friend got arrested for murdering the late Uncle Finn?"

"Something like that."

"Can't wait."

Carole left the room quietly, smiling to herself. She would yell at the teenagers later, but right now she just couldn't stay mad at them. For the first time, they were finally a family.

:-:

_now and for always_


End file.
